Think you don’t need to worry about the Party Wall etc 1996 Act at your GP surgery? Think again...

As a GP practice you will be busy treating patients and getting on with all of the other requirements placed on you. However you may not be aware of your responsibilities if you are having any building work undertaken at your surgery, or what your rights are if building work is taking place at a property near to you.

The Party Wall etc 1996 Act governs building work where work is taking place to shared walls, structures, boundaries or structures within a close proximity to your premises. In these situations Party Wall notices must be served to the adjoining properties. The purpose of the Party Wall Act is essentially to ensure that any works in these situations does not compromise the structural integrity of the shared walls, structures or premises.

Therefore, if you are having any work done to your surgery premises such as an extension or refurbishment, you must ensure that you fully comply with the Party Wall Act. We recommended that if you do have any work undertaken on your surgery premises, a specialist surveyor such as ourselves is used to serve notices on any adjoining properties and act as Party Wall Surveyor.

This also means that you have rights should construction work take place on any adjoining properties to your surgery. In this scenario, you should seek the advice of a specialist surveyor who can act on your behalf to advise on Party Wall matters.

If you commence any work which affects an adjoining property without adhering to the Act, you could be served with an injunction by your neighbours to the stop the work. You will then need to serve the relevant Party Wall notices to those properties affected which can cause significant delays to your build, especially due to the time allowances included as part of the notices. This has a knock-on effect of an increase in costs.

Another obvious reason why you should ensure you fully comply with the Party Wall etc 1996 Act is to avoid any unnecessary disputes with your neighbours. If you approach them early enough in the construction process, one surveyor can be used to represent both sides, which will ultimately keep the costs down.

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